Oscarwatch

Joe Wright’s stunner is no ordinary biopic of Sir Winston Churchill. It is a vigorously directed, tightly paced war thriller with nothing less at stake than saving the world from Adolf Hitler. Anchored by an exacting, measured but sweetly responsive lead performance by Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour is the best of many great cinematic portraits

Oscarwatch

I posted about this a few days back but it’s worth diving into again since the debates have begun to bubble up on social media. Can any of the four acting slots be upset? And if so, which? My first thought is no. They are locked down as any have been in recent years. True,

Close up of the class photo #NomsLunch pic.twitter.com/sE6NXu1Ybw — The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2014 The 2014 #Oscar class photo: pic.twitter.com/D9jD7FMpKo — Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) February 10, 2014 Sorrentino gets support for The Great Beauty. Bono is in the house! Megan Ellison backed Her & American Hustle & Jonze get big round. — Anne Thompson

“You do the work. That’s all that matters. The rest is someone else’s business,” — Robert Redford accepting his Riviera award at the Santa Barbara Film Fest. It’s easy to forget that there is value beyond the awards race. I know, silly coming from one of the people who built the monster, but it is

John Ridley brought some of Solomon Northup’s descendants as he accepted his awards, choking back tears. He thanked honoree Robert Towne, “without you I would not be here.” He beat the writers of Philomena, Captain Phillips, The Spectacular Now, and What Maisy Knew. Ridley said he was significantly moved in reading and writing the memoir